Microsoft is launching a music streaming service this month — Microsoft is gearing up to launch a music streaming service similar to Spotify by the end of this month. — The service, which Microsoft aims to have ready by the end of July, will offer users the chance to stream music for free and also download to own.

Update on Windows 7 RTM — I'd like to offer up a little insight into the “Release to Manufacturing” (RTM) for Windows 7. — Over the past week, there have been many rumors surrounding RTM. — We are close, but have not yet signed off on Windows 7. When we RTM you will most certainly hear it here.

Facebook Employees and Investors Can Finally Unload Stock — 10:28 a.m. Clarifying that company executives do not qualify for the stock purchase program. — Facebook investors are finally getting a chance to sell some of their stock. — Digital Sky Technologies, the Russian investment firm …

Verizon to Mobile Developers: Can You Hear Me Now? — Verizon wants to build its own app store, and is planning a July 28 event to entice developers to its platform. Like everyone else wooing programmers, the company hopes to get the equivalent of the in-crowd building the hottest apps …

Why Teens Aren't Using Twitter: It Doesn't Feel Safe — Twitter seems to be the hottest thing in tech recently — if you look at TechCrunch, it averages at least 3 posts a week about Twitter. But the bigger question is, who is really using Twitter? Many of you might think that …

bing at month one — After just over one month in market, we wanted to take the opportunity to THANK YOU for all your feedback and support of Bing and provide an update on our early results. We've been really pleased to hear so much positive feedback, and we appreciate all you who've taken …

Blockbuster to stream video rentals on Samsung TVs — SAN FRANCISCO - — Having been a step behind in the race to pipe entertainment from the Internet to television screens, struggling video rental-chain Blockbuster Inc. is counting on a new partnership with Samsung Electronics America Inc. to regain ground on rival Netflix Inc.

Facebook Huddles with Patent Vampire — Mark Zuckerberg was photographed in intimate conversation with Microsoft's former CTO in Sun Valley last week. The Facebook founder might simply have been quizzing Nathan Myhrvold about Zuckerberg doppelgänger Bill Gates. But there's a more interesting possibility.

MPAA Will Hunt Down isoHunt Founder for Life — Where the RIAA is mostly interested in pursuing individual file-sharers in court, the MPAA has taken on several of the largest torrent sites on the Internet. After being awarded $110 million in their case against TorrentSpy last year, they are now focusing on the next target - isoHunt.

Bing Delivers Credibility to Microsoft — SAN FRANCISCO — In late May, Microsoft unveiled Bing, its new Internet search engine, in front of an audience of skeptics: technology executives and other digerati who had gathered near San Diego for an industry conference.

HBO and Cinemax Going Online With Comcast — HBO and Cinemax will join Comcast's OnDemand Online trial this summer, giving the cable company's authentication scheme a high-profile partner. As part of the agreement, 750 hours of content from the two networks will be made available through Comcast.net and Fancast.com.

Facebook Stickier Than Google, eBay — The average Internet user in the U.S. spent more than 4.5 hours on Facebook in June, more time than he whiled away on Google, eBay, Yahoo and other online hubs, according to new data from Nielsen. — Getty Images — Google's family of Web sites retained …

The Time Has Come To Regulate Search Engine Marketing And SEO — The following post was written by a well known executive at one of the largest sites on the Internet. The author has requested to remain anonymous - not for dramatic effect, but because of the backlash he would receive from the SEO industry and possibly Google itself.

Local Ads Moving to Social Networks — We just did an assessment of advertising placed on social networking sites and were surprised to find that nearly 20% of all ad spending is by local businesses. Our assumption going into this research was that commercials on social networks were almost purely national.

How The AP Fails To Get Search & SEO (Again) — Gosh, just as the Associated Press announces that it's going to follow a new meta tagging scheme to protect its content, it continues to show no clue about how to monetize its own traffic much less regulate it.

From signed up to satisfied — Getting new users is easy; keeping them is hard. Join Intercom co-founder Des Traynor as he explains how to bridge the gap between a company's initial traction and sustained success.